Teaching programs for the next generation of spiritual health therapy professionals

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a post-graduate training for spiritual counseling and professional spiritual health care that takes place in a hospital setting. The training includes: lectures, individual sessions with the Teaching Supervisor, group supervision, verbatim sessions, theological reflection, midterm and final evaluations and learning by doing ministry with patients, families and staff on the units of one or more of our hospitals.

Osler's CPE Teaching Centre is affiliated with the Toronto School of Theology (TST) and course credit is offered through Trinity College.

Dates and Types of Programs

Teaching Supervisor - bio

Venerable Thom Kilts, M.A., is the primary Teaching Supervisor who runs the program. A Buddhist teacher from the Nyingmapa lineage and Celtic Buddhist Lineage Holder, he has served as Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor at Osler since 2012. He was originally Board Certified as an APC (Association for Professional Chaplains) Chaplain as well as certified as an ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education) Supervisor before receiving reciprocal certifications with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC). With many years of experience he has served as Director of Spiritual Care at John Muir Health, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and he has served in such diverse settings as California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT., St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, MA, Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder, CO and Reconstruction Nursing Home in his hometown of Ithaca, NY.

Thom has written a number of articles featured in professional journals and online resources about the minority faith experience and research in the art of supervision and ministry. Thom has been writing a book regarding theoretical material for clinical learning and these theories are utilized in CPE and taught to Provisional Supervisors in Supervisory Education. Thom is an accomplished musician and enjoys the incorporation of music in ministry when he can and it is appropriate. Thom is a long time student and teacher of religious philosophy and is committed to teaching and developing the baseline aspects of healthy religion and spirituality which are; curiosity and dialogue.

In addition to supervising the CPE program, Thom is involved in several committees of the Medical Center, coordinates the ministry of spiritual care volunteers, provides education and outreach to local religious communities and leaders, and works with the Supervised Pastoral Education Advisory Committee to direct the Spiritual Care programs.